Livingstone plans teachers' housing association

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is planning to set up a new housing association exclusively for teachers to tackle the chronic shortage of affordable housing in the capital and the worst staffing crisis in schools for 40 years.

The mayor's officials have begun a feasibility study into a proposal on the provision of hundreds of new homes reserved for teachers and their families.

The homes would be funded by the housing corporation and available for rent at below market rates or for shared ownership under which teachers would partly rent and partly buy the homes.

Christine Whatford, chair of the Association of London Chief Education Officers, who is working on the proposal with the mayor's team said: "Housing is the biggest single issue facing teachers and it's a bigger problem in London than anywhere else."

Ms Whatford, a former head teacher and now director of education at Hammersmith and Fulham council, said: "We are arguing there is a big enough issue about teacher shortages to merit a housing association that is dedicated to teachers."

She explained that teachers would only be housed by the association if they stayed in the profession.

"We would not restrict them to teaching in the same authority - they could work as a teacher anywhere in London - but we would build in safeguards to ensure that they did not just use the housing association to get a home and then leave teaching."

A Greater London assembly paper on the plan says: "Providing affordable housing for teachers has become a pan-London imperative."

The move comes after a £250m government initiative to help 10,000 teachers and other key public sector workers get a foot on the property ladder in London and the south-east.

The proposed housing association would be aimed at retaining experienced staff as well as attracting new teachers into the profession.

Neale Coleman, Mr Livingstone's housing adviser, said: "We feel that getting new teachers is not the problem. The problem is keeping them for three or more years."

Around a quarter of newly qualified teachers quit their jobs within three years. This dropout rate is fuelling what Mike Tomlinson, the chief inspector of schools, described last year as the worst teacher shortage for 40 years.

At the same time spiralling house prices are making the shortage of affordable homes in London worse.

Research published yesterday by the Centre for Economics and Business Research predicted that nationally average house prices will triple to £300,000 by 2020 and reach nearly £600,000 in London.

The GLA has been frustrated by the lack of a coordinated response from councils to the shortage of affordable homes for teachers.

Mr Coleman said: "We have got to find a way of breaking down the division between the 33 (London) local education authorities."

Some local authorities fear that the housing association initiative will divert resources away from tackling homelessness in London and restrict councils' ability to set their own priorities over who should get housed in their areas.

One council source dismissed it as a publicity stunt: "What we need is affordable housing and not resources taken away in PR posturing."

A housing association for teachers was set up in 1989 to take on the homes of the former Inner London Education Authority.

The London Teachers' Housing Association changed its name in 1995 to Landmark Housing Association to reflect the fact that its homes were no longer restricted to teachers.

Landmark felt it would be more successful financially if diversified into helping other key workers as well as teachers.

The GLA is in discussion with Landmark to ensure that the new housing association offers a distinctive service. It feels that given the extent of the current shortage of housing for teachers an association exclusively for teachers would be a success, especially with the high profile backing of the mayor.

The GLA's study will look at whether the new housing association should be freestanding or part of an existing housing association's group structure.

The paper on the plan says a freestanding association would give the GLA greater control, but such a body is unlikely to get funding from the housing corporation, because the corporation is reluctant to register new housing associations.

It therefore suggests setting up the association as a subsidiary of a large London based association.